Golden Votes to Pass New Legislation to Automatically Enroll Eligible Veterans in VA Health Care

WASHINGTON — Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02) voted today to pass H.R. 4673, the Ensuring Veterans' Smooth Transition Act (EVEST) Act, through the U.S. House of Representatives. This bipartisan bill would automatically enroll eligible veterans for health care through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) following the end of their military service. Veterans who sustained a qualifying injury during or as a result of their service qualify for care through the VA.

"There are around 140,000 veterans in Maine; less than half of us are enrolled in VA care and many of those who aren't enrolled are eligible," said Golden. "This bill will ensure that thousands of veterans across the state, and many more across the country, receive the physical and psychological health care they need as they transition out of the military. I've been working to improve health care for my fellow veterans since my time serving in the Maine State House and I'm proud to continue that work for my fellow vets in Congress."

The bill would require the Veterans Affairs to:

• Enroll qualifying veterans within 60 days of receiving their eligibility notification.
• Issue an enrollment receipt to veterans, in addition to instructions on how to opt out of the program within 60 days of their automatic enrollment.
• Ensure that by Aug. 1, 2022, all qualifying veterans have been provided with a digital certificate of eligibility and are able to electronically opt out of enrollment.

The version of the EVEST Act introduced in the 116th Congress was supported by a number of groups, including AMVETS, The American Legion, and the American Psychological Association.Qualifying veterans are able to opt-out of the auto-enrollment requirement.

Golden has a long history of working to connect veterans with the benefits they've earned through service. In his time in the Maine House of Representatives, he introduced and passed legislation that created a commission to examine Maine veterans' access to health care. The commission issued a report identifying significant gaps in the services being provided to Maine's veterans, found that less than half of Maine veterans are enrolled in VA health care, and made recommendations to improve access and delivery of veterans' health care services. Golden turned several of those recommendations into legislation and worked to get them signed into law. The full report released by the commission can be found at this link.

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